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In the years ahead, the private sector will produce all the goods we want with millions of fewer workers. Because of our gigantic national debt, government cannot be the employer of last resort, the role it played in the Depression. If neither government nor the private sector will employ enough people, that leaves only the institutions of civil society. In "The End of Work," Jeremy Rifkin argues that our policy challenge is how to take the strength of the private sector, with its burgeoning productivity, and the wherewithal of government, with its power to tax and to channel new resources, into a third sector to create jobs in the civil society- jobs that will deal with social problems. Current volunteerism is insufficient, both in terms of the number of volunteers and the effect on the larger economy. If the worry- in a world of rising productivity and declining employment- is inadequate purchasing power, more volunteers cannot be the single answer. Using the resources controlled by government (cutting corporate subsidies to pay for employee subsidies) and the private sector (encouraging social entrepreneurship) to create paid jobs in civil society answers the worry about where the purchasing power will come from. In addition, the civil society, with adequate resources, can make progress in dealing with the social issues of our time- the poverty, violence, and family disintegration of the underclass; the damaged self-esteem and diminished income stemming from middle-class job loss; and the general problems of addiction and absence of meaning that affect Americans of all classes- because civil society is rooted in people's lives and doesn't shy away from values as the basis of action. Now that large bureaucracies have shown little ability to run social-service programs, and business enterprises readily admit their inability to solve our social problems, the importance of civil society bursts upon our attention. Within civil society lies the zest to deal with what ails us as a nation.
The third sector cannot be shrunk by computers or destroyed by information technology. Mentors, teachers, nurses, day-care providers, pastors, surrogate parents and grandparents, athletic coaches, music directors, and others who give to others, reach out as individuals to those in need. No computer can evoke the smile of a child. It is common sense to connect senior citizens who want to help with children in need of adult influence, and to link displaced middle managers with institutions dedicated to community. The institutions of civil society are moved by idealism and a sense of service, and even if you're receiving a small wage,, your commitment is fundamentally different from the pursuit of profit or power which underlies the private and public sectors. Whether they are large institutions, such as giant churches, research universities, and modern hospitals, or small ones, such as community-development corporations, private foundations, and local churches, they know their purpose and can focus energy to achieve their mission. If each of them succeeds, the society benefits. In what Peter Drucker calls a society of organizations, the government is not irrelevant. It must be the force that sets the standards, establishes the policies, and helps with resources and with defining the common good. The organizations execute policy, following government's lead. The third way emphasizes governance--a governance in which the institutions of the third sector assume a larger responsibility. Whether it is in confronting the poverty and pathology of urban America or in reclaiming the lost dreams of displaced workers, government has a central, but new, role.
In Bertolt Brecht's "The Life of Galileo," a character says, "Unhappy is the land that breeds no hero." To which Galileo responds, "Unhappy is the land that needs a hero." Brecht was referring to a national hero, but it is in our local communities that the real heroes live. They are individuals like Dorothy Bradley, Deborah Floyd, Ada Deer, and Reverend Watley, whose humanity calls out to us. They are the parents who raise their children, the citizens who engage one another in pursuit of a communal objective, and the individuals living out their spiritual values every day. The microchip cannot determine what is right or wrong. A new drug cannot end hatred. No government and no private sector can ever make those facts different. It is only each of us, alone with our consciences, who will shape the American future. Even rising income inequality derives in part from the absence of a morality that tells today's economic superstars how much is enough. Achieving personal excellence and extending a helping hand to others are what will get us through. If a new man or new woman can be created out of the ashes of the twentieth century, with all its wars, hatred, and tragedy, it will be here in America. We made those promises to ourselves long ago. Optimism is one of our great virtues. No circumstance is beyond improvement. No predicament is hopeless. In an age where change is the rule, our nation, which was born out of change and remains dedicated to its healthy cultivation, will not only survive but prosper. As Robert Frost wrote, we have promises to keep, and miles to go before we sleep. (pgs 413-415)
"Time Present, Time Past"
by Bill Bradley
(c) 1996 Bill Bradley
Published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. New York, 1996
428 pages, $26.00
reprinted by permission from Knopf, all rights reserved
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